Variety even went so far as to ask if Ben was right for the job, which, according to the results visible right now, he is apparently not.

Variety asked “Is Ben Affleck the right choice to play Batman?” The screenshot shows the results as of 9:42 a.m., Friday, August 23, 2013.

It got me thinking, though. Us nerds have these fights all the time — Who’s the better Enterprise captain, Kirk or Picard (no one seems to care about poor Jonathan Archer or man-in-the-beeping-chair Christopher Pike)? Who’s scarier, the alien from Alien or the Predator (this one even became a comic book and eventually a movie which I still haven’t bothered with)? And so on.

So it never surprised me to find myself in discussions about who the best Batman is. And even before Christian Bale was an option (or Clooney, for that matter), I was convinced it was Michael Keaton. Laura Keeney[8] agrees, and gave me a high five when she learned my allegiance.

I felt like he captured the darkness and inner turmoil of the Dark Knight fantastically, and played the debonaire Bruce Wayne well enough. Actually, I like the bits of humor Keaton injected — “Do you like eating here?” “Oh yeah. You wanna know the truth? I don’t think I’ve been in this room before[9].”

Others argued that Val Kilmer brought a lot more suave sensibility to the Wayne character, and that Clooney filled out the rubber suit better. Or that Adam West was simply an unbeatable classic. When Bale came along, for me, it challenged Keaton’s reign as the supreme Batman. Challenged — didn’t surpass. No one could get nuts[10] like Keaton’s Bruce Wayne.

So who’s your favorite live action Batman?

EDIT: Okay, so your responses exceeded my SurveyMonkey account. Christian Bale had a slight lead over Michael Keaton when it ended, though. Here’s the poll as a Google Form. Cast your vote again!